Safety appliance for elevators.



M. F. SILVA.

SAFETY APPLlANcE FoR ELEvAloRs.

PPLICATIDN FILED NOV. 22, 1915.

Patented June 20, 1916.

@44mm/bof:

@fw/knew@ L THE CULUMBIA PLANDQRAPH co.. WASHINGTON, D. C.'

M, F. SILVA.

s'ArETY- APPLIANCE Foa ELEvAToRs.

APPLICATION EILED NOV. 22, 1915.

Patent-ed June 20, 1916.

atten/ms TMB CDLUMBYA PLANDURAPH G0.; WAsHlNGTMnDft MANUEL F. sILvA, orCEN'IEIWILLE,` CALIFORNIA.

SAFETY APPLIANCE FOR ELEVATORS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 29, 1916.

Application filed November 22, 1915. Serial No. 62,779.

To all whom t may concern.' i Y Be it known that I, MANUEL F. SILVA, acitizen of the United States,`residing at Centerville, in the countyv ofAlameda and vState of California, have invented certain new L nd usefulImprovements in Safety Appliances for Elevators; and 'I do declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact descriptionv ofthe invention,such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains tomake and use the same.

This invention relates to improvements in elevators, and particularly tomeans by which the same may be prevented from dropping to the bottom ofthe shaft when the supporting cable breaks.

' Theprincipal object of the invention is to provide a very simple yetextremely eiiicient Vsafety attachment which will automatically operate,if for any reason the cable used for raising the elevator becomes jbroken.V f

Vith this general object in view, my invention resides in the novelfeatures of construction` combination, and arrangement of parts whichwill hereinafter be more particularly described andclaimed and shown inthe drawings wherein: i

Figure 1 is a vertical rsection through a portion of a building showingan elevator shaft in section with my improved elevator mounted therein,said section being taken substantially on the line 1 1 of Fig. 6; Fig. 2is a similarview with the cable broken; Fig. 3 is a vertical sectiontaken substantially on line l3 3 of Fig. 6; Fig. 4 is a similar viewtaken on the line 4 4 of Fig.

1; and Figs. 5 and 6 are transverse sections taken respectively on thelines 5 5 and 6 6 of Fig. 1. p

In the accompanying drawings, I have illustrated a portion of a buildingshowing improved elevator with its safetyappliances 'i -ends of theseshafts are extended beyond an ordinary elevator shaft l in which my isadapted to slide.

. My improved elevator comprises broadly three compartments, theordinary passenger or freight compartment'2, andfaddition'alcompartments 3 and 4 disposed above and bei .low this main compartment.

construction of the elevator is similar to the being open on one side asshown at 5 to provide a doorway for ingress andegress there- The,exterior from, the other compartments, however, be-

ing preferably closed on all sides.

The supporting cable 6 by which the velevator is raised is extendedthrough `an opening 7 in the top of the compartment 3 and Y, has itslower or'inner end attached to a suitable lifting plate 8 which Vissubstantially the size of the interior dimensions of the compartment andis designed to slide therein. vThe cable 6 is preferablyy attached `tothis plate in its central portion by any pull on the plate, even thoughthe cable isV attached thereto only at one point. VIn order to protectthe cable 6 where it extends through the top of the compartment 3 and toprevent excessive wear, a tube 10 is provided. This tube is secured byits lower end to the plate 8 and extends upwardly through the opening 7inthe top and surrounds said cable. The plate 8 being free to move inthe com artment 3, the same will be lifted upwar ly when force isexerted on the cable to pull the same and the'elevator upward. When,however,rthe cable is not supporting the weight of the elevator, theplate y8 is forced downwardly by means of a heavy coiled spring 11 whichsurrounds they tube l 10. The purpose of this construction willhereinafter be Vmore particularly described the plates 13 and receivethe safety catches 14 which are adapted to operate to prevent themovement of the elevatorwhenthe cable 6 becomesV broken. Each of thesesafety catches 14 is in the form of a substantially triangular flatplate having one of its edges rounded as shown at 15 and .provided withgear teeth 16. These plates and the shafts 1,3 are so arranged that theteethl 16 on the rounded edges 15 thereof intermesh as through anycause, Vspurred corners 17 into engagement with the shown. Two pairs ofthese intermeshing plates are provided, one pair on the outer side ofeach of theV bearing .plates 12. The corners of the plates oppositetheir rounded portion 15 are adapted to project beyond the sides of theelevator when the cable 6 breaks, said corner being provided with spurs17 adapted to bite into the walls of the elevator shaft and reliablyhold said elevator in stationary position until the cable can berepaired. Vhen the elevator is operated, however, the safety catches aredisposed in inactive position, and are only moved therefrom by the meansnow to be described.

The bearing plates 12 in addition to providing bearings for the shafts13, also have arcuate slots 18 formed therein through which extendoperating rods 19, one of these rods connectingeach pair of plates oneach of the shafts 13. It will be seen that as long as one or both ofthese operating rods are held in its or their uppermost position, thesafety catches will be held in inactive position as shown in Fig. 1. Asthe teeth of the safety catches intermesh, it is only necessary to moveone of the operating rods in order that both sets of safety catches maybe operated. They are thrown into their operative Yposition when theoperating rods connecting them are moved downwardly thus throwing thewalls of the elevator shaft.

In order that the rods 19 may be held in their uppermost position, Iconnect the same by means of a lifting rod 2O to the liftingI plate 8.Thus as the plate Sis raised by the cable 6, the operating rods 19 willalso be raised. A yoke 21 is used as a means of lifting both oftheoperating rods simultaneously, said yoke being connected in anysuitable manner to the lower end of the lifting rod 20. Furthermore, therods 19 are surrounded by the rollers 22 in order that any frictionoccasioned by their being lifted will be overcome. When the cable 6breaks at any point, the weight of the elevator will be removed from theplate 8, thus allowing the spring 11 to force the same downwardly, whichvon its downward movement will also cause the lifting rod 20 to forcethe operating rods 19 downwardly, and causing the plates forming thesafety catches to be rotated so that their spurred corners will bethrown into active position. This operation takes place very quickly andautomatically whenever the cable breaks, and the elevator will drop onlya short distance before kthe spurs 177 forciblyengage the Vwalls of theelevator shaft. These spurs 17 may be either formed integrally with theYplates constituting the safety catches, or

1,iee,ess

of the plates. As the lifting rod 2O necessarily extends upwardlythrough the passenger compartment 2, I provide a suitable housingtherefor in the form of a tube 24.

From the foregoing description, it'will be seen that I have invented anextremely' simple yet positive means for stopping an elevator at anypoint in its shaft when the supporting cable therefor becomes broken.

lVhile Ihave described the elements best the weight thereof, a cableattached to said plate, a shaft rotatably mounted transversely vof saidelevator, normally inactive safety catches on the ends thereof, anoperating rod connecting said catches, a lifting rod connecting saidplate with the first mentioned rod, means for forcing said operating roddownwardly, whereby when said cable breaks, the safety catches will beforced out-` wardly into engagement with the walls of said elevatorshaft.

2. The combination with an elevator shaft; of an elevator slidabletherein, a lifting plate in said elevator adapted to support the weightthereof, a cable attached to said plate, a shaft rotatably mountedtransversely of said elevator, normally inactive safety catches on theends thereof, van operating rod connecting said catches, a yoke on saidrod, a lifting rod connecting said plate and the yoke, a spring placedabove said plate for forcing the same downwardly, whereby when saidcable breaks, the safety catches Vwill be forced outwardly intoengagement with the walls of said elevator shaft.

3. The combination with an elevator shaft; of an elevatorslidabletherein, a supporting cable for lifting said elevator, a pair ofshafts extending transversely of said elevator and rotatably mountedtherein, safety catches on the ends of said shafts in the form ofsubstantially triangular plates having one edge thereof rounded,intermeshing gear Vteeth on said rounded edges, operating rodsconnecting said plates, the'corners of said plates opposite the frontedges forming spurs adapted to be thrown into engagement with the wallsof the elevator shafts when the supporting cable breaks.

4. VThe combination with an elevator Y shaft; of an elevator slidabletherein, a lifting plate in said elevator adapted to support the weightthereof, a cable attached to said plate, a pair of shafts extendingtransversely of said elevator and rotatably mounted therein, safetycatches on the ends of said L, porting cable for lifting said elevator,a pair of upright spaced apart bearing plates, a pair of shaftsrotatably mounted therein, the ends thereof projecting beyond saidplates, safety catches on said projecting ends and adapted to rotatetherewith, said catches having their adjacent edges rounded,intermeshing gear teeth on said rounded edges, said bearing plates alsohaving arcuate slots therein, operating rods extending through saidslots and connecting the safety catches, a connection between said rodsand the cable, and means for forcing said rods downwardly, whereby whensaid cable breaks, the safety catches will be forced outwardly intoengagement with the walls of said elevator shaft. y

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of twosubscribing witnesses. v

v MANUEL F. SILVA. Witnesses:

J'No. Gr. MAT'ros, Jr., F. S. T HoMAs.

opies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents Veach, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patente.

Washington. D. C.

